More Milestones and Markers

Last year at this time this is what we were seeing:

....and this was us, 2 hours before we met Isaiah for the first time (March 1st, 2011).

This past summer I learned a lot about grief markers-dates/events that occur and remind us of loss or things that are not with us. This week marks our second Celebration Marker-the start of dates/times in our life we can now mark with joy, blessings and gratitude of what we have been given...our first Celebration Marker-having him home for Christmas this past year.

Isaiah's development and growth in our family has been amazing-his language is so clear now and meaningful. He is able to hold a pencil/marker and make letters with tracing patterns. He plays well with Kenny and my heart stops when I get home and he runs to me yelling "mommy mommy".

Last Friday night while participating in World Visions 30 hour famine Rob and I watched Isaiah's life story DVD-something we hadn't done since his return. At times I can't believe where he was, and what he has experienced and how resilent he is as person. We can thank God for these blessings and the gift of this young man in our life-despite all the obstatles encountered in bringing him home.

In the next few weeks Rob and I will be crafting a letter to birth mom-the first of many that we are sending to Ethiopia throughout his life with us-another marker of how far we have come in only one short year.

Many blessings-the Cabeen's